It's time to get to work

With a sigh of relief the 2008 Presidential election is over, and we the people of a great nation have spoke in our votes.

Two words that resonate loud in my mind from all the political rhetoric during this election are CHANGE and MAVERICK. Both words were used in the context of what voters expressed they wanted and what the candidates proclaimed they offered.

"I'm voting for Obama because I want change" was a statement I heard over and over, while others said "I'm voting for John McCain because he's a maverick".

While both candidates mesmerized us with their poetry of change and maverick symbolism, many of us became distracted by it and failed to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Since we want change, what changes are we prepared to initiate and make in our lives? And since we like mavericks, are we mavericks ready to conquer the status quo in our lives and chase the new opportunities awaiting us?

Or do we prefer to sit passively and let our leaders serve us the change and maverick that they decide we need?

As an audience of this rhetorical hypnotism, delivered to us by the cyberspace and bricks & mortar media, many of us bought into the comfort of it all, like going to a restaurant for dinner because it's easier than cooking a meal at home. Well the party is over and it's time to ask us these questions and demand honest answers.

And once we answer these questions, it's time for us to initiate these changes in a maverick way to make a better life for our families and ourselves, and a better country for all Americans; rather than wait for the government to do it for us.

Former President John F. Kennedy expressed it best during his inauguration speech on a cold winter morning on January 20, 1961 when he said "and so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

It's time to get to work.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum